While we were straightening up, he stayed standing and I got my clothes in the right place and managed not to fall off the tailgate. Rhys would be there to catch me.
The sense that something was off stayed with me. I could ignore it, but I had paid enough attention to Rhys over the years. “Tonight was a lot like before.”
“When we were kids?”
A quick fuck in the pasture that had felt like the epitome of romance? Sort of. “Rushed and frantic.”
He wedged himself between my legs and propped his hands on either side of my hips. The guy continued to be the reason my pussy was pulsing and he’d just gotten me off. Twice.
“There will never be a time that I won’t be ready to blow around you.”
I brushed my hands over his broad shoulders. “Flattering, but this was different than the last two weeks.”
“We’re outside.”
I poked him in the chest. “You’redifferent.”
He touched his forehead to mine. “Yeah. We only have a few more days. Then you’ll be the hot guitar teacher that I can’t touch.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I knew the answer, but I had to hear him say it. We’d agreed to these two weeks. We hadn’t discussed the two weeks before I left. Perhaps because I knew the answer.
“I can’t, June,” he whispered. “If the girls see us so much as kiss, do you know how much they’ll get their hopes up?”
I nodded, crestfallen. They weren’t the only ones. My hopes were already floating as high as the stars. Each time I was with Rhys, questions streamed through myhead. Why couldn’t we be together? Why couldn’t we make this work? Why couldn’t he try?
My instincts said tonight wasn’t the night to talk to him, just like I hadn’t told him every reason for my years-long trek to country music stardom. He’d already shut me down, but I was starting to see beyond the Rhys he wanted everyone to see. I used to think that I got the real Rhys. Now I knew better.
If I brought up the future tonight, he’d shut me down. He was going to bed with me. He’d wake up to me and we’d repeat until Sunday, when he brought the girls home. It’d be a week after that when I did lessons with the girls again.
No, I’d wait. I wasn’t looking forward to leaving town. Great things were waiting for me. My album was nearly done and every song I’d written was a keeper. I was on fire, but I was also spending every day with the man I loved.
There would be a gap from when he cut me off to when I left town. That was when I’d know if there was any hope for us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Rhys
The last two weeks had gone by in the blink of an eye, thanks to my nights buried in June. The only thing that dimmed my time with her was not having the girls around. I would pick them up tomorrow, and I’d finally get to see them every day. But the tradeoff was June.
Then moments like these made me think... what if?
June and I were in the kitchen of the cabin. I’d just come inside from grilling steaks and she was finishing at the stove. Fried potatoes and asparagus.
“The girls would love this meal.” I inhaled around the band around my chest.
I could picture them setting the table while June finished up the food. We’d all sit down together in the cabin, like we had June’s first night here.
I wanted a quiet night at home with the woman I loved, but she wanted to share her music with the world. Tonight was my last night to be selfish with June.
Once she was finished with the potatoes, we sat and ate.
She took a bite and sighed. “I’m going to miss this on the road.”
“Don’t you have a list of demands that goes ahead of you? Like only green M&M’s, Evian water, and a medium-rare filet mignon waiting for you?”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “I’m partial to green Skittles.”
“Wait.” I flattened my hands on the table. “Who the fuck likes the green Skittles? They should make them all red and purple.”
